Thursday, October 10, 2013

My bullying prevention tip is very fitting for today's date: 10/10, which coincidentally falls within National Bullying Prevention Month.

If you have young children or you teach young children, you'll love the award-winning book, One, and it's companion book Zero, by Kathryn Otoshi.

These books beautifully express the power of stepping up and the importance of feeling whole in your center.

They were so powerful to me that I reached out to Ms. Otoshi and we created One Can Count, which consists of materials and simple activity suggestions that support the messages of respect and leadership. As a matter of fact, New York State Senator Andrew J. Lanza recently sponsored One Can Count in all 30 of the public elementary schools in his district. St. John's University hosted the workshop for principals, teachers, counselors, parent coordinators and graduate students. As a community we came together to discuss solutions and to focus our attention on encouraging leadership skills at an early age as the anti-bully.

If you want your community to benefit from One Can Count and have questions about how to cost effectively introduce the books and materials into your school districts, contact me at thetangledball@gmail.com.

At a recent One Can Count workshop, elementary school teachers and administrators were encouraged to use the cards to catch fellow staff members in the act of showing kindness. Kids can also be inspired to pass it forward. Try asking the students to hold on to one card and to pay the other card forward. The recipient can be asked to pay it forward again... and again...and again. Watch the magic happen. (If you order card stock, kids can write their initials on one and see where it lands at the end of a week.)

About Me

Susan S. Raisch is a marketing and public affairs consultant for companies, organizations, foundations and experts who address the issues of bullying and online safety, as well as other issues affecting the home and schools.
Susan has played a key role in the successful launch and rollout of many television and publishing public service programs and campaigns for companies such as Sesame Street, ABC, Court TV, and Scholastic, among many others.
Tangled Ball®